Windows Explorer is above all a file manager – i.e. a program that allows you to perform various operations with files and folders – copy them, move them from one location to another, rename them, delete them, etc. File management can be the basic but certainly not the only function of Windows Explorer. In the menus of Windows Explorer are hidden different settings like mapping network drives, hiding and unhiding files and folders, changing extensions, changing the look and feel of Windows Explorer itself, etc.

In a sense, you see Windows through its Explorer and there are many ways in which you can customize it to see it the way you like it. For instance, you can select different views – Thumbnails, Tiles, List, Icons, Details or have a custom picture as background. Each of the five views is handy in different situations – for instance for a pictures folder, thumbnails let’s you have a quick glimpse on the pictures, while the Details view is useful when you need to have at a glance information like when files have been last modified.

Also, you can select to show the directory tree on the left and the files and folders in a particular folder on the right or to show only the files and folders. You can keep to the classic view of Windows Explorer or show common tasks in folders.

Windows Explorer can be used also for sharing files, folders and drives and for synchronizing offline files. Actually, Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer are the same piece of code and the next version 7 is called Windows Internet Explorer. This does not mean that you have exactly the same functionality for browsing online and for dealing with files and folders on your computer but just keep in mind that the two Explorers have very much in common.